Ietje Paalman-de Miranda facts for kids

Aïda Beatrijs “Ietje” Paalman-de Miranda (born February 20, 1936 – died May 11, 2020) was a smart Surinamese-born Dutch mathematician. She became a very important university teacher, known as a full professor.

Ietje was born in a place called Uitvlugt, in Paramaribo, Suriname. When she was 17, she moved from Suriname to the Netherlands. She went there to study mathematics at the University of Amsterdam. Back then, it was very unusual for anyone, especially a woman, to study math at a university. She was the only woman in her whole department!

She finished her studies on November 23, 1960, with "cum laude" honors. This means she graduated with great praise because she did so well. After that, she started working on her PhD. A PhD is a very high university degree that you get after doing a lot of research. Her supervisor was Johannes de Groot. She finished her PhD thesis, which was a big research paper, in 1960. She also earned her PhD with "cum laude" honors.

In 1980, Ietje became a full professor in pure mathematics. This was a huge achievement! She was the very first woman to become a full professor of mathematics in Amsterdam.

What She Studied

Ietje Paalman-de Miranda mostly studied topology and set theory. These are special areas of mathematics. Topology is about the shapes of objects and how they stay the same even if you stretch or bend them. Set theory is about collections of objects.

She also helped three students get their own PhDs. She wrote a book called Topological semigroups - Mathematical Centre Tracts in 1964. She also wrote 11 research papers about different math topics. Besides her research, Ietje wrote many notes for the classes she taught at the University of Amsterdam.

Her Family Life

Ietje married Dolf Paalman, who was a chief pharmacist. They had two children together. Later, they were happy to have three grandchildren.